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Yellow tang sick..

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    Posted: August 13 2011 at 12:54am
Our yellow tang is looking a little sick this evening.. About a week ago, she got into a scuffle with another fish.. (pretty sure it's our big clown). She lost a good portion of her tail. There hadn't been any agression before or since this one incident. I think there was a conflict because I hadn't fed in a few days to help clear up some cyano. I noticed tonight, (after introducing a couple new fish) that she has developed little white spots on her fins and body.. Could this be the dreaded ich? Some other disease or parasite? Still effects from the scuffle? This is new for me.. What to do?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2011 at 12:56am
Forgot to mention, she's still acting pretty normal.. Not eating quite as much as before, but she does eat. Still swimming around the tank.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MIK3B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2011 at 10:39am
Sorry to hear that, it does sound like it could be the dreaded Ich, do you by chance have a quarantine/hospital tank?

It's a really good idea to have one running, some folks reccomend putting all new fish in there to observe and/or medicate before putting it into your display. The best way IMO to do a quarantine is to have a small (10-20G) tank handy, but to keep a sponge type or HOB filter running in your sump or display if you don't have a sump so you can quickly do a water change in the main tank, adding the water you take out to the quarantine tank, moving the filter over, plug in your spare heater and viola! Instant hospital tank...

Worst case, if you can catch him and have a refugium or sump, you can put her in there to monitor and keep her away from the bully clown so she can heal and regain her strength. 

Good luck!


Edited by MIK3B - August 13 2011 at 10:42am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2011 at 1:53pm
Odd thing, most of the white dots are gone this Morning. Could they have just been caused by stress? The clown has decided top pick on one of the new fish now.. His days in my tank may be numbered..
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2011 at 8:25am
That's a good sign that it will recover.
Don't expect it's tail to ever look the same. If it's down to a stub, it may never grow back fully. I'm assuming you're feeding Garlic Oil right now.
A QT would not be my recommendation but the Refugium is not a bad idea, until the bully can be caught. Like you said, it's time to either remove the aggressor or begin some serious fish training.Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2011 at 3:56pm
Yes, I've been dosing garlic... But the only garlic I could find has more a gel consistency.. Where can I pick up the caplets that just have the oil?

Been doing some training.. He's gotten better over the last day.. Everyone seems to be getting along..
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aquaristnewbie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2011 at 4:50pm
You can buy the liquid pills at the health food stores or most LFS sell seachem garlic and kent garlic extreme which is awesome but pricey.  Are you dosing it to the tank or adding it to the food as you feed?  It should be soaked into the food and fed.  But it seems like things may be ok.  Keep up on feedings and keep the stress down and he should be fine.  Like everyone said quarantine tanks are always a good idea to have around.  I keep a small ten gallon on hand that I fill with my tank water with a HOB filter and dose what I need to it.  Good Luck!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 12:33am
Well, it's most definitely ich and it's spreading.. Atlantic blue tang's got it now as well as the red sea sailfin... It seems to be mostly the tangs.. Anything else besides feeding with garlic that I can do? (I found the liquid garlic.)



Edited by Shad - August 16 2011 at 12:35am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CapnMorgan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:06am
Cleaner shrimp will sometimes help. Tangs are ich magnets, when one fish gets it always assume your tangs will as well. Not much else you can do in a reef tank besides feeding plenty of food and enriching it with garlic oil. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote utahwatertoys Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:12am
I used Kent Garlic extreme daily for about 2 weeks on a yellow tang that had ich in my 120 gallon reef tank (came in on a pinktail trigger from LFS which promptly went back to the store). Cleared my yellow tang right up and no sign of ich on any fish now for over 2.5 months.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BobC63 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:12am
Is a FW dip for the affected Tangs worth the trouble?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tanuki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:18am
Garlic cleared my ich pretty quick on my yellow tang. You have a lot of gangs, how large is the tank? They could be stressing eachother out.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote utahwatertoys Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:18am
I think that part of what brought on the ich on the yellow tang was stress from the introduction of the trigger which scared the yellow tang so badly that it nearly jumped out of the tank. The trigger was pretty aggressive and I think it created lots of commotion among the reef inhabitants particularly the tang.
Now that all inhabitants are happy and the scary trigger is gone, all's well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tanuki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:19am
^tangs (love my phone)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote utahwatertoys Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:23am
One other thing that also may have got rid of the ich or reduced it is the UV sterilizer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CapnMorgan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:38am
Originally posted by BobC63 BobC63 wrote:

Is a FW dip for the affected Tangs worth the trouble?

At this point is may make things worse by further stressing the fish. FW dips are best utilized at the beginning of the infection. Also even after the FW dip the fish will be returned to an infected tank, so it's a moot point.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CapnMorgan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2011 at 1:42am
Originally posted by utahwatertoys utahwatertoys wrote:

One other thing that also may have got rid of the ich or reduced it is the UV sterilizer.

I do highly recommend a good (appropriately sized) UV unit for every system. If you do have a UV sterilizer you will want a relatively low flow rate through it as the flow rate directly affects what is killed in the water passing through it. Things like bacteria and algae require considerably less dwell time than parasites like Ich.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 18 2011 at 1:17pm
This poor tang.. I got home last night and noticed that she had some serious wounds.. Her bottom lip is 75% gone as is some of her top lip.. I'm still assuming that she's getting into fights with the clown.. I can't think of any other fish in the tank that would or could do that kind of damage.. I promptly made a decision that the clown has got to go.. I moved the clown up to my nano and posted her for sale in the classifieds here.. I moved the two small juvenile clowns out of the nano and down to the big tank.

I'm concerned that the yellow tang has now sustained injuries so severe that she won't make it.. I fed the tangs some seaweed last night. She doesn't seem to be able to move her mouth well enough to eat. I watched her for quite a while. Even though she did get some food down, more often it would just fall back out of her mouth when she ate. I'm concerned that with these injuries to her mouth, she will starve to death.. I will keep an eye on her and try to watch her feeding every day. Hopefully it will get better, but if her condition worsens.. What to do? I hate to see her go through a slow death of starving..
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MIK3B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 18 2011 at 1:39pm
That's no good - sorry to hear her condition is worse now! Unhappy

That big bully has got to go - good luck with the sale - seems like a good deal with the anemone, if someone has a big enough tank with big inhabitants to house them...

Wish I knew what to do with the mouth situation, maybe someone else will chime in, keep trying to nurse her health back in the meantime. 

Maybe try some brine or baby brine, anything that she can keep down will keep her alive
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